AlSymerz

How about 24 months plus for a Toyota Land Cruiser 70 series. A vehicle that's basically remained the same for 39 years, still doesn't see the base model get an air conditioner, and now gets a higher GMV rating in Australia simply so that Toyota can register it as a medium truck and avoid the laws about side airbags which would require a redesign. For the privilege of waiting 24 months you also get to pay a minimum of $74K for the base model, or $125K for the top model. But if you can't wait there is a 22 model sitting in a shipping container, enclosed in an air tight bubble bag, never driven, less than 50ks on the clock, 1 of 350 made and you can have it for $150K. However that price rises weekly. Houses are now a depreciating asset in this country. With inflation and interest rates rising houses are becoming less affordable and there are quite a few reports that point to house values dropping. Because of this idea that you can now borrow 95% of the house value there is a number of places around the country where people will soon owe more than their asset is worth.

They told us that the trucking industry was hit hard during covid, so many drivers travelling so many places either catching it or spreading it. But by mid '21 they were onto blaming different industries. The toilet paper and tissue industry lost a lot of staff and because 80% of bog rolls come out of one factory there was barely enough to go around. Then it was the frozen pea and bean industry (no other vegetables). Then it was the egg industry. Nearly every industry has had a go, and while it's some what feasible that a bug like covid could run rampant through a factory of workers, especially workers who were being asked to come back to work in small areas it does seem odd that it's generally only been one industry at a time suffering dramatically. The two industries that have remained constantly complaining they are short of workers are the fruit picking and cafes/restaurant industries, the same two industries that for years have hired tourists and back packers and under paid them while working their arses off. The thing is these same people haven't woken up, they spend their time bitching at the government to let international workers back in while saying Aussie don't want to work for less than minimum wage. Car prices in this country have been ridiculous for years, not just because of the Aussie dollar, but because we make sweet fuck all here and have done for years. Even before the closure of Ford and Holden manufacturing, back to when Mishitibus and Toyota used to manufacture here, import prices killed the price of cars for people. Then came a luxury tax on imported luxury cars (or cars over about $50K I think it was), an even bigger joke now because ever car is imported into the country. Using the Toyota above as an example the cheapest Toyota ute, which is the single cab poverty pack, steel tray 2 wheel drive, no air conditioner, is $50k. The one that matches what Toyota America call the Tacoma is our Hilux, 4wd, 4 door, tub matching the body not a tray, shiny alloy wheels, can't be driven off the lot of less than $65K and wont arrive here for 12-14 months if ordered today. But the used car market is just as ridiculous, because importing is so hard. We traded the wife's 2009 Nissan Navara (Frontier in the US) a bit over 12 months ago. If we'd sold it pre-covid as a 10 year old vehicle we'd have been lucky to get $10k for it on the private market. However we traded it in 13 months ago as a 12 year old car on a new Isuzu and because of it's condition, low mileage and the Stealership had someone to buy it as soon as they'd done a stealership make over they offered me a shade over $16K as a trade in. Going by other dealership prices at the time they would have sold that car for about $20-22K. So while the car aged two years it also went up more than $6K because people were wanting second hand cars instead of waiting for new cars. So much for a depreciating asset! Got me stuffed why people still wanted new (to them) cars but instead of waiting for an actual new car, or just not spending the money, they ran to secondhand cars that sky rocketed in price, but I guess that's just more reason why some people and money can't be trusted. Since GG's been absent for a few days someone has to write the novels

Oxygen Destroyer - Bestial Manifestations of Malevolence and Death

We are told it's the war in Ukraine making our locally grown vegetables harder to get and more expensive. I understand things like diesel and fertiliser etc are dearer and that cost has to be passed on. Even with the diesel discount farmers get my diesel costs on the farm have risen by about 30-40% in the last year or so. I can't put a 40% excise on every cow I sell, cows are sold by weight and at market value and while that price might have risen it hasn't risen 40%. It is weird when it comes to what is an isn't effected by the war, covid, or insert current excuse. We've had shortages from dunny paper to rice, from noodles to flour, from potato chips to shampoo. Now we have a potato shortage due to the flood last year which battered the entire east coast. But at least with the potato problem it's easily proven, when the land is 6 foot under water it's hard to fucking grow crops. The idea that they can't make dunny paper because there is a war overseas or people in that industry are sick for 8 months has me buggered. I really think kids should be taught money matters throughout school. Not just shit like "Mary has $100 and is asked to share it equally between her 4 friends, how much should each friend get?" Proper money education like how to get it, how to keep it, how to save it. Then once the basics are taught move into more advanced shit like interest and servicing loans etc. Maybe then we'd have check out staff who can figure out how much change a person gets when they pay with cash. For those playing at home the answer to the above question is, each friend gets nothing. Mary tells them not to be lazy twats and earn their own fucking money.

Morbid Angel - Abominations Of Desolation

Armoros - Pieces

Such a simplistic view barely tells the real picture though. I borrowed $15K in 1985 to buy a truck, that truck was a depreciating asset, shit it probably wasn't worth the money I spent on it in the first place. But that truck also became my job, that job became my life for nearly a decade, that job set me up for the rest of my life. If I hadn't jumped at the moment and took the risk of borrowing money I'd never have started my own business and probably ended up just another roadie making minimum wage getting nowhere and spending any cash I had on weed and booze. Thousands of other small businesses would be in the same position when they borrow money for vehicles, tools and technology assets, all of which depreciate quickly. I can understand that home ownership is not something everyone aspires too but borrowing for such an item shouldn't be looked upon as idiotic. Borrowing $2M for a house that has little more to offer than a $500K house because of it's location is idiotic. Borrowing $100K for a car because the badge is better than the $50K car borders on idiotic in my books too. But simply borrowing within ones means, allowing a reasonable buffer for increased payments, I don't see that as idiotic. Borrowing money is not the problem, and should never be considered the problem, borrowing beyond ones means is the problem. People need to know and understand what their means are, not expect someone else to tell them. In an ideal world banks wouldn't give people money they couldn't afford. In an ideal world people wouldn't expect things that are well out of their reach. But we don't live in an ideal world.

Motorhead - Orgasmatron

My niece plays grade cricket down in the burbs these days and nearly all the grounds have fixed cameras mounted on the club rooms. Some of the games get streamed live, others get delayed. You might be lucky and get something like that happening.

Slayer - B Sides And Rarerities

Will you be televised this time? I agree, living within ones means shouldn't be that hard. One of the biggest problems though is that people don't understand money. My sis-in-law (wife side) is 15 years younger than us and she's still spending money on credit cards then getting new credit cards to pay off the debit of the previous card. She's convinced that when a CC company offers her a lower rate and she uses that card to pay off the other one she's winning. She can't be convinced that if she didn't have that debt in the first place she would be winning even more. She's got the money, but she still convinces herself that the points they offer and the deals she gets are saving her money.

Inhuman Condition - Fearsick

When I bought my ute just under 10 years ago the dealership price for a major service was $1400. I told them at the first free service that they'd never see me again. Since covid though cars have become a huge joke. 18 months wait times for delivery, $50K average price, 10 year old second hand cars rising price by up to 30%. It's a shit time to buy a new car but a great time to sell a good used car. It blows me away how much debt some people must have. All these people with their million dollar houses, two cars worth 60K each, a caravan worth more than $100K. Then there is the people who are putting their kids through schools that charge upwards of $10K per year per kid. I'm old enough to have said goodbye to debt, and needing debt, but it's just as well because owing the kind of money some people must owe would scare the shit out of me.

Cars definitely cost a fortune, but realistically the battery in the ute lasted 10 years, it never caused a problem in that time and spaced out over the time the money probably really isn't as bad as it seems when it first comes out of the pocket. Get away? Where do you get to go?

Water. I hate to agree with what my mother has said for the past how many ever year it's been, but as dull and boring as water is I feel a shitload better since cutting down to one coffee a day and water for the rest of the day.

Wrahawk - Pray For War

Apocalyptic Annihilation - Necrothrash

If you can't dance like Peter Garrett can you really be considered a good front man?

Iron Maiden - The Final Frontier

Exodus - Pleasures Of The Flesh

I leave it up to my kids to abuse tell me. I might not agree with them, I might even arc up at them but I let them think they've won. most of the time.

Fucking boomers always jumping in to correct people!!

Yeah I knew about the shit fight that became his life. Apparently he tried several times over the year to reconnect but after he came out of jail many of his fellow musos and band mates didn't want to know him. Kind of sad but what's sadder is that he's not the only one.

I must watch that David Crosby thing at some stage. I've never had the chance to see it.

Dammit, I was only into metal because I thought it was a fad. Oh well welcome anyway.